Improvement in ballast-distributing cars



A. B. DO OKSTADER. Ballast-Distributing Oars.

No. 195,919. Patented Oct.

L WIIIII/ll u amiigimui; inhfiil m v g l ATTORNEYS.

N. FEIERS, PHOTO-LlTHOhfiAPMER. WASHINGTON. D C.

.. NITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

ADAM B. DOCKSTADER, OF SHERMAN, ASSIGNOB T0 HIMSELF AND WILLIAM D. BLAOKMAN, OF MCKINNEY, TEXAS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALLAST-DISTRIBUTING CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 195,919, dated October 9, 1877; application filed September 1, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM BERRY DocK- STADER, of Sherman, in the coimty of Grayson and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ballast-DistributiUng Car, of which the following is a specificaion:

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved car, part being broken away to show the construction. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same, taken through the line as .70, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to furnish a car for ballasting a railroad-track with broken rock, gravel, sand, &c., which shall be simple in construction and reliable in operation, distributing the material upon each side of, and midway between, the rails, and in greater or less quantity, as may be desired.

The invention consists in the combination of the spouts, the pivoted slides, the supporting-bars, the connecting-bars, and the lever with each other and with the frame of the car, and in the combination of the fenders with the spouts, the pivoted slides, the sup-v porting-bars, and the frame, as hereinafter fully described.

A is the body or frame of the car,.which consists of six longitudinal beams connected with each other at their ends, and attached to the trucks in the usual way.

Between the beams A are secured hoppershaped spouts B, which are arranged in rows lengthwise and crosswise of the frame A, and the edges of which meet each other and the sides of the car at an acute angle, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that there may be no place for the material to lodge when being discharged.

The spouts B are closed at the bottom by cross-slides G, two to each cross-row of spouts, one closing the bottoms of three spouts and the other two, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The slides O are pivoted to the second bars from the sides of the frame A, and are supported at their ends and pivoted parts by bars 1), which may be continuous or in sections, and are secured to the beams A by bolts. When the bars D are made in sections the adjacent ends of the sections overlap each other, so that they may be secured by a single bolt. The inner parts of the slides C have short slots formed in them to receive the bolts or rivets by which they are pivoted to the bars E.

To the bars E are also pivoted the rear ends of the connecting-bars F, the forward ends of which meet at an angle, and are pivoted to the lower ends of a lever, G. The lever G passes up through and is pivoted to the platform or frame of the car, so that by operating the lever G the slides C may be closed, and partly or fully opened, as may be desired. The lever G is held in either position by a notched bar, g, pivoted to the platform or frame of the car, and which engages with a pin attached to the lever G.

H are \I-shaped fenders, which are secured at their angles or bends by the bolts that pivot the slides G, and by the bars D, secured by said bolts. The wings of the fenders H thus prevent the sand or gravel from falling upon the rails of the track. The car is provided with side and end boards, in the usual way. With this construction the ballast can be dis tributed in the exact places and quantities desired while the train is in motion, so that the material will not need to be rehandled, and while the train is running at least four miles per hour, or at greater speed. The spouts over the draw-heads are to be left vacant and bridged over. The spouts over the trucks or near the wheels ,have the pitch or angle changed to one side or the other, so as not to interfere with the wheels or axle-boxes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of the spouts B, the pivoted slides C, the supporting-bars 1), the connecting-bars E and F, and the lever G with each other and with the frame A of the car, substantially as herein shown and de scribed.

2. The combination of the fenders H with the spouts B, the pivoted slides C, the supporting-bars D, and the frame A, substantially as herein shown and described.

ADAM BERRY DOOKSTADEB.

Witnesses:

J OHN DORCHESTER, J OHN C. DONALDSON. 

